Evil Eye: Project Genesis (Archive)
by Xyrule
Summary: This is an archive of the updated version. Read at your own risk, there are spoilers.
1. A Fresh Start

December was a time when most people were at their most cheerful, the weeks leading up to Christmas the calmest and brightest days of the year for many people.

Sainan High was no exception as students went about their daily lives, buzzing with excitement as the days came ever closer to winter break. The halls bustled with people after school and between classes as students excitedly talked amongst their friends over what they were planning to do over their break.

The year was the same as every year for most of the students, but for the aliens, this year's Christmas would see a major shift from the year before.

The twin princesses had left now, finally obeying their father and returning to Deviluke before September started, and with their absence, the Yuuki household was quieter than usual. It was as if things were as they were before they had come, with Lala the biggest source of trouble for the now-12th-grade Rito once again, though Mikan, now in her final year of middle school, was more than happy to take care of Celine while Momo was gone.

However, the changes to that household were nothing compared to those within the Nakamura house. This time last year, Hiro was alone, living in a dusty house reflecting the darkness in his mind, his only companion the bitter hatred of a murderer he didn't even know was still alive.

Now, it was almost unrecognizable from how it had been before. It had replaced the Yuuki house as the most alien-active place in the city, a change reflected in the house itself with a new kitchen and living room, finally completely renovated after Darkness had destroyed it nearly ten months before.

The general happiness of the household was also much higher, and where it had once been nearly empty, now the rooms were filled with what were clearly people's possessions. Across the hall from Hiro's room, Nemesis's residence was still filled with boxes, but many were missing, their contents opened and sold off. The room Hiro had banned them from, the one his parents had once slept in, no was open, the dust cleared and the bed occupied for the few hours that Eve actually slept, though now, she had at least learned to have a somewhat normal sleep schedule now that she didn't have to use the living room couch.

Across the street, the Yukihime residence was just as lively, with Nymph now a full-fledged adopted member of the family, though she kept the Yōsei surname to avoid confusion at school, where she was officially a student after being granted official rights by the Japanese government. It was a welcome surprise when she finally met Yukihime Oshita, who had come home without announcement that November and was still there since.

Mavis, Camellia's mother, naturally had to be made aware of her daughter's headmate, and after being convinced that she was perfectly safe, she accepted Tsubaki as her own child, and the alien accepted it with open arms. Nowadays, she'd correct people if they called her by her old name, and now that she had finally mastered Japanese, she could use quite the colorful language when people still referred to her as Tsubaki, quite the funny thing to experience from someone who was physically 7.

All in all, this winter break would be different than last year. While there were still loose ends to tie up relating to Project Genesis, most of the more pressing matters were cleared now.

But it wasn't the time to be thinking about the project, or about the differences in species in general. Now, it was the last class before the break started.

"Hey, Nakamura. Hey, hey, hey, Nakamura." As usual, the boy next to him, who Hiro had forgotten about over summer break but had set back into his mind after being in class with him, poked his side, trying to get his attention while Tearju-sensei, who happened to be his teacher now that he was a second-year, wasn't paying attention.

Nemesis wasn't in his class this year, being assigned to Suguya Hitoshi-sensei, a new teacher this year who was in training to specialize with aliens, so she along with most of the other alien students were in his class this year. From Saero-sensei's class last year, only Hiro, Okamoto, and Kirishima Tabane were still there.

Apparently those two were dating now, and though he didn't know or care much about them, Hiro's congratulations were genuine. It was a nice change from how crazy things were in summer, and as a result, the three were now pretty good friends.

Of course, this had the unintended side effect of them being always around him, and Okamoto chose to sit next to him like the year before.

Rather than letting the boy continue bothering him, he acknowledged him, turning to face the boy and nodding.

"What is it? I don't want to know what you're doing with Kirishima-san over break." he said, and the boy laughed, stretching his arms behind him.

"Nah, she's not interested in anything like that. I wanted to invite you over to a Christmas party after school. Or are you still doing that thing with Nemesis?"

He shrugged, leaning back on his chair and crossing his arms. "She'd kill me if I didn't go with her. Today's the anniversary of when we met after all, it's pretty important to both of us."

The boy hummed, before shrugging. "Well, guess that makes sense. Have fun then. Of course, Tabanecchi is coming with me!" he announced, laughing, and Hiro smiled at the boy's happiness.

"-cchi doesn't really work when someone like you says it, Rin-kun." said the subject of the sentence, walking up to them as people started to pack up following the end of Tearju-sensei's long-winded rant about the cloning process...Something totally unrelated to the history class they were in, but since it wa so close to break she'd decided to just spend the period talking about anecdotes. "Please use -chan, or at least just drop the honorifics altogether."

Okamoto grinned as he turned his head upside-down to look at her, his eyes widening briefly as she moved to stand behind him, pressing his face into her stomach as she bent over to wrap her arms around his torso in a short hug before stepping back. Last year, the girl had been a kuudere at best and a tsundere at worst, but now, she had mellowed out, and was even often the instigator when they openly showed affection with each other.

Last year, such displays of affection would sicken Hiro, but now, it was just cute to watch, though it was still awkward sometimes.

Their attention was taken by Tearju-sensei clapping her hands, and she did the small jump that she often did when she was about to give an announcement.

"Now, class, those of you who actually are still awake after my ranting...It's time to go. I hope everyone is safe over the break, and have a nice Christmas!"

Hiro smiled as he stood up, picking up his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder. He'd be seeing the teacher again soon anyway since she was going to visit Eve sometime near Christmas, but for now, he was her student, not the homeowner that Eve paid rent to.

As the class funneled out of the door, he took some time and let them pass as he fished his phone out of his pocket, messaging Nemesis that he was heading out, and left the room, filing into the hallway.


	2. Nemesis' Best Friend

"Hiro!" the tiny Trans called, standing outside in her winter uniform, which as usual was sized for someone many years her junior, waving to the boy as he smiled, heading to where she stood.

"You're pretty happy, aren't you?" he asked, and she nodded, jumping where she stood and spinning around, a move she'd apparently learned off some anime.

"Of course I am! It's the anniversary after all, isn't it?" she replied. "Which means that today's a year since you reminded me that destroying planets isn't the best way of life!"

He laughed, patting the top of her head as her grin widened. "Yeah, also a year since you nearly died, but I guess that kind of sours the mood, doesn't it?" He looked around them, watching as students filed out of the doors to head home. "Where's Satsuki-san? Isn't she supposed to be coming with us?"

He knew very little about Satsuki Minene, but she had the dubious honor of being Nemesis' best friend, so she couldn't be all that bad. He barely even knew her anymore, they hadn't been great friends and everything from the year before was a little fuzzy to him now. He seemed to vaguely remember someone sitting behind him last year, but oddly, he couldn't recall who it was. Oh, well. Wouldn't be the first time a hole in his memory formed. Nemesis enjoyed taking bits and pieces just to bug him, but he trusted her not to take anything important.

Thoughts of memory loss aside, he laughed as she looked around, as if she'd totally forgotten about her friend. "That's right, where is she? Minene was supposed to get here before me…"

"Maybe she got caught up doing other things?" he asked. "After all, it's our anniversary, you didn't meet her until later-"

"I'm here!" called a voice, cutting him off as the two turned around.

Satsuki was difficult to categorize based on her appearance alone. She wasn't tall, but she wasn't short either, though compared to Hiro, she seemed tiny...But Hiro, being half Canadian, was a giant compared to pretty much any pure Japanese person, so his size was nothing to go off. Yukihime was an exception, but she too was a freak in her size.

The way Satsuki carried herself was very average too, and her appearance was nothing to remember. Blonde hair, tied in a braid behind her head, and she carried no accessories to distinguish her uniform from anyone else.

Still, Nemesis was friends with her, and that was good enough for him as he turned to her, nodding as she stopped in front of them, holding her hands to her knees and panting. Had she been running to get here on time?

"Sorry, I got caught up helping one of the freshmen…" she explained, and Nemesi laughed, jumping forward to wrap her friend in an embrace.

"You made it, that's all that matters!" she said, breaking from the hug and turning to Hiro. "Let's go, the stores won't wait!" she called, grabbing Satsuki's hand and starting to run toward the exit to the school, and Hiro followed behind, shaking his head at the sight of the human stumbling to keep up with the much shorter girl.

"You have your ID?" he asked, and the tanned girl flashed the card from one of the pockets sewn to her uniform. "Alright, good. We don't want another mess like last time…"

Nemesis was a dark matter being, meaning that especially since she and Hiro had become partnered, her appetite had steadily begun to increase to fill the void her body contained. Dark matter is incredibly heavy, a small chunk barely the size of Hiro's fingernail could weigh a much as the sun, and since Nemesis only weighed about 36 kg, it meant she was so sparsely packed that she had quite the space to fill.

Long story short, she was constantly hungry. It was a wonder she didn't exhaust his government allowance with her appetite. It was to the point that she needed a special government-sanctioned ID marking her as an extraterrestrial in order not to get sued by any restaurants she cleaned out.

~~~Downtown~~~

"So, Satsuki-san, what are you planning for the break?" Hiro asked as the three walked down the street, headed toward the event they'd planned to go to...a planetarium tour that had recently opened, something Nemesis was extremely keen on visiting. She probably wanted to see how accurate Earth's knowledge of space was, knowing her.

The girl looked up at him as Nemesis happily walked in front of them. He wasn't good friends with the girl, but they were at least acquaintances enough that he didn't feel the question was too strange.

"I don't know, probably just staying home. My parents are kind of worried about the whole aliens becoming normalized thing, so they don't want to risk going out for the break in case something happens."

Hiro shrugged, looking over at Nemesis, who was blissfully ignoring the conversation. "What do they think about Nemesis?" he asked, and the girl laughed, waving a hand.

"They like her. It's not that they don't trust them, they just are nervous is all. Not everyone's as nice as Nemesis after all."

Hiro crossed his arms and nodded. "And even Nemesis herself used to be one of those dangerous ones until a year ago." he replied. "I can't say your parents are right or wrong, but there certainly is a danger." He had a nagging feeling about Project Genesis too, but for now, things were quiet. Hopefully they'd stay that way, at least until after the break. Let everyone have a peaceful Christmas.

He wouldn't let himself think too hard on things. Peace and quiet was a good thing, not something to be worrying over. He knew that things were too crazy last year, this year, he hoped not to have such problems.

"Hiro!" Nemesis said, turning around and snapping to catch his attention. "Look, Camellia-chan's here!"

He blinked, looking around, before smiling as he caught sight of the child standing next to her mother, who was busy staring at a sales sign for some sort of gift idea.

The three changed direction to walk up to them, and he waved. "Hello, Mavis-san." he said, catching the woman's attention as she and her daughter turned, the child's grin more than enough to show her excitement.

"Neme-chan!" Camellia said, and Nemesis and Satsuki started chatting with her as Hiro faced the woman, who smiled at the sight of them...With the exception of Satsuki, it looked just like children playing, even though none were actually children, though Camellia physically was.

"It's good to see you, Hiro-kun." Mavis stated, nodding to him. "I hope everything's going well?"

He nodded, glancing at the three girls before crossing his arms. "I see Camellia and Tsubaki are adjusting well. They definitely seem happier, at least."

The woman laughed idly at the statement, waving a hand. "Tsubaki is a quick learner when she's motivated, and she's been teaching Camellia all kinds of things...Sometimes it feels like I'm the one out of the loop, with all the upper-level stuff they talk about together."

Hiro tilted his head at the statement, confused. "You can hear them both at once?" he asked, and she nodded.

"Well, not quite...It's more like, they both tend to talk out loud. They're not very easy to tell apart, so I just pretend it's both of them. Kind of makes me feel guilty, like I can't tell my own daughters apart…"

"Well, it's not a big deal. They're in the same body after all, telling the difference is pretty hard." Hiro replied. "Though I've heard Tsubaki prefers to be called Camellia anyway."

The woman nodded. "She does, though I don't see why...I think Tsubaki is a lovely name, though Camellia's name means the same thing...It's quite ironic that they happened to be together, isn't it?"

"Maybe it's fate." he replied, chuckling. He never believed in such an absurd thing as fate, but it was a nice scapegoat to say everything was pre-decided. "Just like how by trying to attack me, she ended up eventually repenting her old lifestyle and managed to settle down."

"All that's in the past now, she's a good girl." Mavis replied. "She's like Nemesis, isn't she? They have very similar backgrounds."

"Yeah, you're right...So what are you doing out today? Don't the elementary schools still have class?"

The woman shook her head, turning to the sales poster. "No, they got out last week...I've been trying to think of a good gift for my husband…"

Hiro blinked. "I...didn't know you had a husband." he said. "Sorry, I thought-" He blinked as she grinned, turning to him with a twinkle in her eye.

"Thought he was dead?" she asked, laughing at his embarrassed expression. "No, he lives in the United States. Camellia and I moved here, but he had to stay behind..It's sad, but we are in touch. Still, for you to get that idea...It's clear why you're the mature one in your household despite being the youngest, isn't it?"

"Hey, I had to live by myself for 7 years, I had plenty of time to mature." he replied. "Sometimes even I forget I'm only 15...Geez, I'm not even a legal adult and yet I have all this mess going on around me…"

"I wouldn't say it's a bad thing though, you've grown a lot as a person as a result of everything around you, haven't you?" she asked. "Now, mister big boy, help me with my shopping!"


	3. The Planetarium

The trio had to run to make it to the planetarium in time for the tour to start, after Mavis had spent half an hour dragging Hiro around asking about sales and such, Once he'd finally broken free, the two girls waved goodbye to the child and bolted after him.

They were cutting it close, but they'd made it. Hiro thanked himself in the past for choosing to buy online tickets, or else they'd have never made it...Three tickets, because he was an honest person and didn't like Nemesis's idea to Trans-Fuse with him to get in free.

Now, however, all was well, and they filed into the crowd, with Nemesis riding on Hiro's shoulders, her legs dangling over his chest as he held her up above the crowd. With her height, she'd never be able to see anything around everyone.

It was loud here, but it was a different kind of noise than that of school or the shopping district. This was a wonder-filled noise, of people who came here purely to have a good time. Nobody expected anything unique, just some constellations and myths as usual, and for the most part, that was exactly what it was.

Still, Nemesis and Satsuki seemed to enjoy it, and though Hiro was more bored than anything, he put up with it. It was good to see the two happy, though after the incident with Tsubaki was resolved, happiness seemed much more common.

He silently thanked Yuri for mentioning this tour before she left for Canada that August. He briefly wondered if she'd gotten all the information she needed for her xenobiology thesis, but he didn't want to ask. Let her do her own thing, she was far away now.

Nemesis pointed up at one of the stars on the dark display above their heads. "Which one is that?" she asked, and he looked up, shifting her on his shoulders to make the motion more comfortable.

"...I'm terrible with stars, I couldn't tell you." he said, though he turned his head when Satsuki picked up from what he'd said.

"It's Sirius, the brightest star in the sky." she said. "In the constellation of Canis Major. It's pretty important for pathfinding with telescopes and stuff, I think."

Nemesis tapped her chin. "What's the lumosity factor? Deviluke's root planet has a star in the sky somewhere brighter than that one...I think it's called Gokicha."

"Heh, well, Deviluke's sky is different from ours." Hiro said. "It's probably a lot clearer, forone thing. Doesn't Deviluke's central region have a lot of rules on light pollution?"

"Eh, just the lab planets. Everything's supersized in space, including pollution." the Trans replied. "Ooh, what's that constellation? It looks like a bear!"

~~~Later~~~

As the three left the building, blinking back the sunlight from outside, Nemesis jumped off Hiro's shoulders and grinned, standing next to him.

"That was fun, it's so interesting seeing what Earth's sky looks like...It's too bad you can't see most of it unless you're in the right place...I wish I could fly like Eve can, I bet she gets to see them whenever she wants."

"Well, Eve is Eve. She usually just sits inside reading anyway." he replied, looking at Satsuki. "And what about you, Satsuki-san? How did you like it?"

The blonde grinned, looking up at him as they walked down the road. "I'm not as easily amused as Nemesis-san, but it was fun. It's nice to be around you for a while, I feel like after watching you two I understand her a little better now." She sighed, shaking her head and looking forward. "It's funny, I've known her since March and I still know so little…"

"I'll tell you anything you want, Minene-chan!" Nemesis said happily, humming to herself as they walked. "And I'm in a really good mood now, so ask away!"

Satsuki laughed, tapping her chin and looking up at the sky to think. "Hmm...Oh, I have one!" She crossed her hands behind her back and looked at her friend. "Where were you born?"

Nemesis blinked, looking thoughtful at the question. "I don't really know the exact location, but the Svalbard Islands, in Norway."

Satsuki blinked in surprise at the statement. "You were born on Earth?" she asked, and Nemesis nodded.

"December 31st, 1998. I'm going to be 19 in a few weeks." the tanned girl replied. "So...technically I'm not an alien? But I was created using alien technology...But I'm also comprised entirely of dark matter, meaning there is nothing alien about my genetics. So...I just say I'm alien, though it's more complicated than that."

"And Eve-san?" Satsuki asked, and she shook her head.

"Eve is a bona fide alien. She was born and raised on Kurosu...I don't know what planet in your sky that equates to. Probably something you've never heard of. Then again...Eve is a human by genetics, modified like crazy to become what she is today. Tearju-sensei is the same, and so was Mea."

Mea. It had been a long time since he'd heard that name...The subject had been an unspoken taboo since Tsubaki joined their side, but it wasn't like it was forbidden. She was gone, no turning back, so no point in censoring it either.

"Oh, I see...Being an alien is more complicated than it seems, isn't it?" Satsuki asked, and Hiro blew air through his teeth at the thought.

"Tell me about it. I don't even know what I am anymore since Nemesis has screwed with my genome so much I'm basically a hybrid now."

"You're younger than me, aren't you?" the human asked, and he nodded.

"I'm younger than most of the second-years." he stated. "My birthday's in March. The 14th."

She laughed at the number, tapping her chin in thought. "Pi Day?" she asked. "No wonder you're so analytical, with a birthday like that!"

He laughed at the statement, shaking his head. "Never thought of it that way...What does that make Nemesis then, being born on the last day of the year?"

Nemesis grinned, jumping up and climbing onto his shoulders again, this time purely because she felt like doing so. "It means I'm the omega! Everything is rooted to me! Now, onward, noble steed!"

Satsuki giggled as Hiro smiled at the alien's antics. "This noble steed thinks you should stop doing this, because you're making him look like a pedophile around these strangers."

"I am older than you and you're only 15, therefore I'm the pedophile!" Nemesis replied, laughing as she swung to hang backwards, her back resting against his own and bouncing as he walked, sighing and facepalming at her wording.

"You really are a handful, you know that?" he asked.

"Yep!" Nemesis replied happily.


	4. Back Home

**I probably should be updating this, huh?**

* * *

Around this same time last year, Hiro would have been alone, returning to an empty house that served only as a place to be in private. Now, however, he was happily chatting with the alien riding his shoulders, and when he got back, the smell of food was already in the air.

That was not as nice as it could have been. The only other resident was Eve, and her cooking skills were...less than perfect.

As he walked inside the house, Nemesis slipped off him, and he turned to close the door as she ran inside.

"Welcome back." Eve said from the kitchen, and he nodded, waving to her before walking over to see what she was doing.

"..." Murphy's Law came to play almost immediately. "Eve...why are you using eggs for yakisoba?"

She blinked, looking at him as he stood nearby, her hair split into various strands for holding the instruments she needed. "You put eggs into the ramen a few days ago, so I thought it made sense to put them into this. They're both noodle dishes, right?"

He sighed, holding his hand to his forehead. "Eve...Your combat ability and natural intelligence are way higher than mine, but your common sense is still terrible. Ramen is not the same thing as yakisoba, you don't put eggs on grilled food. It'll just end up a mess if you try that."

She blinked, looking down at the dish. "It's working fine, isn't it? I've been practicing at night when you two are sleeping, I'm getting a lot better now. I just have to think of it like a battle and it works out pretty well...Didn't you wonder why we've had extra bento boxes recently?"

He blinked, looking between her and the yakisoba before sighing. "I just figured I was making them in my sleep or something. I guess you have come a long way...Still, eggs on yakisoba…"

"If it doesn't work, then I will eat it." she stated. "Or I'll feed it to the living trash can over there."

"Hey, that's mean!" Nemesis complained, reappearing in the room...completely naked, as tended to happen when she was home.

"Nemesis, how many times do I have to tell you to put something on? Public or not, it's weird to have someone with the body of a little kid running around naked." Hiro said, and she laughed.

"Would you rather I shapeshift to a more adult appearance?" she asked.

"Do you not have any shame?!" he replied, and she waved a hand at his embarrassment.

"You've known me for a year now. You should remember that this isn't a physical body. So what's the point in feeling ashamed to show it off? I like to show off that I know how to have a detailed human appearance!"

"No, you're just an exhibitionist." Eve stated. "You'd probably do it even more often if Hiro had any sort of reaction to you anymore."

Nemesis frowned, puffing out her cheeks in annoyance as she looked at the boy. "Why don't you react anymore? Sure we're partners, but you could at least have the decency to pop a boner or something!"

"That is not something a girl should be saying, regardless of species." he replied. "I see you as an extension of my own mind, and I'm not really into the whole incest thing."

"You don't understand girls at all, baka Hiro." the tanned Trans said, running off into the hallway. "But I'll be happy to eat all that yakisoba if it fails, Eve!"

"Living trash can." Eve repeated, going back to her work. "How was the planetarium trip?" she asked, changing the subject as Hiro sighed, sitting down on one of the living room couches.

"They had fun, and I got to know Satsuki-san a little better. I feel kind of bad for forgetting she existed since she's Nemesis' best friend and all."

"Well, she was only a side character last year." the blonde replied. "It just so happens that she's getting the limelight now."

"I suppose so. I wonder what other sides are getting bigger roles now that Tsubaki's not a threat."

"We probably should have a meeting with the other Tsubaki's Game members over that. There's a lot to handle that we haven't decided on with that whole Project Genesis thing."

"Yeah, and I don't really think Camellia should be involved. I know she's got Tsubaki boosting her body and all that, but she's still a kid. We really need to rename the group too, considering Tsubaki's not the target anymore."

"I agree, Camellia's far too young to be dealing with a potential fight, even if we were perfectly willing to bash her 5 months ago. Hmm...But if we organize a meeting, what'll we do about Momo?"

He sighed, shaking his head. "I have no idea." He held up his hands, counting the members as he said their names. "You, Nemesis, Murano-chan, Nymph, and I are all pretty close together, but Momo's all the way in Deviluke, and none of us have a long-range comm system other than the _Lunatique_ 's, but Murano-chan and I can't breathe its atmosphere like you can."

"...Aren't you missing someone?" she asked, and he blinked.

"Yeah, I think so...Who was it again?" he replied, and she looked thoughtful.

"Um, well...Uhh...I know her name, I'm pretty sure. Wasn't she...no, that's Kirishima-san…Huh, I can't remember for some reason."

"Weird, I can't even remember what she looked like, but there's definitely someone else."

Their thoughts were broken by the smell of burning, and Eve shouted in surprise as the yakisoba managed to somehow catch fire. "What the-I wasn't even cooking it yet!" she exclaimed as she grabbed it with a Trance hand, bringing it under the kitchen sink to quash the flames in water.

"...Honestly, Eve, you haven't gotten any better at all, have you?" he asked, sighing as he went over to help avert the disaster...Eve had created more than enough messes in this area already. There was a reason why the kitchen looked nothing like it did last year after all.


	5. First Snow

Hiro hummed to himself as he worked on preparing dinner for that day, after finally convincing Eve to 'take a break' indefinitely, and he'd left the ruined yakisoba out in a wrapped container for whenever Nemesis came by. He knew she'd eat it no matter how awful it was, and it wasn't like there was any worry about her getting food poisoning from the eggs, considering she wasn't actually human, as she usually said when making excuses for things.

Now that he was in charge of the kitchen, things went much more smoothly, other than the slight nervousness he felt from Eve buzzing around behind him, watching him intently as he worked.

He'd had 8 years to learn to cook for himself, and Eve only attempted within the last few months. He wasn't about to risk getting poisoned by an alien who had spent 23,000 years eating food bars made by machines.

Sometimes, being the only human in the house had its fair share of problems. Then again, the term 'human' really didn't mean much anymore, especially after he remembered one of Nemesis' comments on the way back home.

Eve was human too, albeit heavily modified in a lab and created far from Earth. Not only that, but he himself was barely human anymore, after Nemesis's genetics had changed his own genome so much.

It was surprising there weren't any side effects, at least that he was aware of. He'd have expected having his DNA slowly replaced with dark matter would alter things, but evidently not. Well, he wouldn't worry about it. He'd said it about Project Genesis as a whole, and it applied here: Don't question peace. Peace is good, let it happen. He'd had enough insanity over the summer.

Today was the anniversary of his meeting Nemesis, meaning that he should consider this the start of a new year. A year where hopefully nothing crazy would happen save for mundane things like Okamoto and Kirishima's relationship status.

Thinking about those two made him a little sad for his own life, when he thought about it. The immature and strange Okamoto Rin was starting to grow up and move on with his life, and here Hiro was, just hoping that nobody would die this year. It just served to remind him that he never really got the chance to lead a normal life. He was entangled in alien relations long before he had a choice, ever since Tsubaki's attack 8 years before.

Still, it wasn't a bad life, he really had little reason to complain. Eve and Nemesis had their fair share of flaws, but they were enjoyable to be around, and though Nymph mostly pretended he didn't exist, he felt oddly comfortable knowing so many strong beings were surrounding him. It made him feel safe, and he knew that had Nemesis never appeared before him, he'd still be the empty shell he once was.

He wondered if Yuuki Rito-senpai felt the same way. The boy had lived with aliens even longer than Hiro had, and by now, he couldn't imagine how the Yuuki household would look if Lala were to leave. Her sisters were already back in Deviluke, but there was still plenty of evidence of alien background in that house. Rito hadn't had any traumatic experiences in his childhood like Hiro did, but he still was sure the senior didn't want to lose the friends he'd made since then.

In that way they were the same. Both liked their peace and quiet, but both also enjoyed the craziness that naturally came about as a result of so many aliens around them. It made life fun, that was for sure.

"Hiro!" Nemesis shouted, breaking his thoughts as he lifted the lid of the stew he was making, checking it before turning to her as she ran into the living room, pointing at one of the windows. "What's going on outside?!"

He blinked, stepping away from the kitchen to look out the window. Nothing unusual was going on, just a normal day...though after a few moments, he did notice snowflakes starting to fall.

He turned to Nemesis, who had at least chosen to wear a shirt, which he recognized as his old school uniform from back when they first met. "What, the snow?" he asked, and she nodded.

"I've never seen that before!" she said excitedly, and he blinked, before laughing, standing up and holding his hands to his hips.

"Really? Come to think of it, there wasn't any snow last winter...Is this your first time seeing it?"

"I've heard of the phenomenon, but it didn't sound true…" she said, looking outside. "Why is it happening now?"

He looked up in thought. "There were predictions that it would snow sometime this week, but it probably won't stick." he replied. "It's pretty common to get snow, but Sainan's in the south so it's not often we get big storms or anything. Barely worth going out, much less anything you probably think you want to do outside. Snow's not as fun in real life as anime makes it seem."

"It's just annoying if you're trying to fly." Eve said, walking to sit on the couch and grabbing one of the manga volumes sitting on the coffee table. "It's freezing and the water weighs you down. I hate snow."

"Now, it's not that bad." Hiro said, turning to her. "If you stay on the ground, it's just annoying to people who have to drive places, but when it's only light like this, that's not a problem."

"Can I go outside and see it?" Nemesis asked, and he sighed, turning to the kitchen to make sure nothing was exploding before looking at her.

"Put on some warm clothes and you can." he replied. "It was warmer earlier today, but it's dropped fast, and it's almost night now. And don't give me the excuse that you don't have a physical body. Dark matter can get cold too."

The tiny Trans grinned, bounding into the hallway and disappearing, and Eve chuckled from her spot on the couch, her nose in her manga but her eyes facing him.

"Your personality is all over the place sometimes." she stated. "One minute you're yelling at her, the next you're a doting mother. Make up your mind."

He sighed, crossing his arms and shaking his head. "The real world's not so cut-and-dry. You have to fit your surroundings or else you're going to get left behind. Fitting one character archetype isn't going to be of any help to anyone."

"I don't know, having consistency isn't necessarily a bad thing. Could you imagine Yukihime-san if she wasn't obsessed with you, or Nemesis if she wasn't irritating to everyone around her? People have a defining trait, and they stick with it...But you're different. You bounce around between many personalities based on who you're talking to. You used to be more focused on what you were like, back before you knew us well."

"I'd rather be scatterbrained than go back to how I was back then." he replied. "I've moved on from that, I'm not shoving blame on Tsubaki anymore. Don't you prefer this nicer version of me over that vengeful spirit from before?"

"I prefer the Hiro who has conviction." she replied. "You had a goal when we were still fighting Tsubaki. What are you after now?"

He blinked, before sighing. "I want to have a normal life, without all this insanity of aliens attacking every year." he replied. "And I want that life for you and Nemesis, and Nymph and Camellia too."

Rather than smiling, Eve's mouth turned down. "That doesn't sound like a good goal." she stated. "It sounds to me like you're just deciding things on your own without knowing if any of us actually want to live 'normal' lives."


	6. Snow Day

**I don't usually get political on my chapters...but screw it. Net neutrality is important and it'll hurt all of us equally if it's repealed, so go to battleforthenet . com to help fight against the repeal!**

 **Now, look, a wild EE Update! They're very rare!**

* * *

Hiro sat on a deck chair, watching an overlayered Nemesis running around the backyard, chasing snowflakes like a little kid. Seriously, she and Eve both were very good at making it easy to forget that they were actually super overpowered aliens and not clumsy kids. Nemesis never having seen snow only reinforced that idea.

He frowned as he thought over what Eve had said, silently watching Nemesis as he did so. "It sounds to me like you're just deciding things on your own, without knowing if any of us actually _want_ to live normal lives."

Was she right? Was he just assuming they wanted the same thing he did? Nemesis especially was the one he was most worried about, because despite being of one mind whenever they Trans-Fused, he knew next to nothing about her when they were separated. He had no idea how much she hid from him either, she was a master of deception before they met, and he doubted she'd changed that much since then.

A full year, and he still knew her just as little as he did back then. He wasn't sure whether to feel guilty or stupid.

"Hiro!" the object of his thoughts said, and he looked at her, blinking as he suddenly found his face covered in snow, the small snowball quickly falling off and leaving his vision clear to see the girl standing with an arm raised, clearly having thrown it at him as a grin split her face.

"It's solid!" she exclaimed, laughing as he sighed, wiping off the water remaining on his face and standing up to walk out with her, bending over to collect the thin layer on the ground into his hand.

"Honestly, you're way too happy about this." he said, compressing the snow into a ball and sighing as he stood again. "There's only enough snow on the ground for a couple balls, don't waste it tossing them at me." To demonstrate, he held out his snowball, which quickly fell apart into powder in his hands. "It's been thicker in previous years, but it's been getting warmer so it's mostly this powdery garbage."

"Easier to clear from the road though, I bet." Eve said, stepping out, seemingly unconcerned by the cold in her t-shirt and shorts. She looked up at the sky, humming to herself in thought. "The weather channel said it won't get much worse than this. Maybe I'll go stretch my wings a bit. I don't like snow, but the cold is good for relaxing your muscles."

"Bye-bye, Eve!" Nemesis said as the blonde's wings formed on her back, pushing off the ground to launch herself in the air, quickly vanishing into the sky as Hiro watched her go, before smiling and shaking his head.

"She does things at her own pace, that much hasn't changed." he said, before frowning. "Hey, Nemesis…"

"Hiro." she said, cutting him off, and he blinked as he realized she'd closed much of the distance between them. Her face was flat and unreadable, before it fell to a grin. "Let's train!"

He blinked, before laughing. "Why? Weren't you just playing around?" he asked, and she shook her head.

"I was, but Eve reminded me that we haven't trained since Tsubaki. It's kind of weird not being in your head as often as I used to be."

He chuckled at the statement, reaching to pat her head with a gloved hand. "I don't see why you like to, you have to listen to all my problems when you're there."

She blinked, before spinning away from his hand, her arms behind her back in the same motion she'd performed before they went to the planetarium. "Your problems are trivial compared to mine. It's refreshing only having to worry about stuff related to Earth...besides, it's nice to know that you still worry about us aliens. Being worried about someone else...it's a feeling I prefer over my own selfish thoughts."

He stared at her for several seconds before responding. "That...That was more honest than you usually are." he stated, and she laughed, tapping her chin with a finger.

"Just blame the cold for making me giddy." she replied. "It's the first time I've seen snow, and the first Christmas I'll be spending with people I truly consider family." She blinked, before laughing hesitantly. "I used to have people I had to call family before, but looking back, I don't like them very much. I much prefer living on Earth!"

He blinked, and smiled,thinking back on what Eve had said about their wishes. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe Nemesis really did like the peaceful life that he wanted.

"I think I prefer it here too...It would be even better if there could just be no more fighting though. Tsubaki's calmed down so much, but there's still Project Genesis to worry about...whatever it is."

"I think it's fun to have a little conflict every now and then." she replied. "I mean, don't get me wrong, peace is nice and all, but I think Eve can agree with me. We're Trans, being born for fighting. Playing around and having nothing much to care about is nice, but we can't deny our biology. I doubt there'll ever be total peace as long as Trans still exist...But hey, that's not a bad thing either. Because we may be fit for war, we're also good at being guards, right? Like you...you use me to protect the people you care about, rather than to start fights and dominate worlds."

He blinked, laughing nervously at the statement. "I've...never even thought about it, but I guess with you guys on my side I _do_ have the firepower to take over a world...but why would I want to? It's not like there'd be a reason, and I'd rather not be hated by anyone again."

She smiled, standing as straight as she could, though while she could extend to be taller, she was confined by her many layers of clothing. "Maybe that's the point of Project Genesis...to find someone who while not being as weak-willed as Rito still doesn't even have the mindset to think of us as weapons. You're the kind of person who can see us war machines and think of nothing but helping us...I bet that's what Gid is going for."

He sighed, scratching his head at the statement. "I think you're idealizing him a bit too much. The guy's a warmonger, and there's probably been a lot more people like me since the project began. I'm not exactly unique after all."

"But you still retain that innocent mindset even after Tsubaki tried to ruin you." she stated, and he blinked. "Most people would become embittered and hate the world, but you managed to regain your optimism...even if it took seven years to do so."

"That's not a sign of strength, but whatever...I guess it's impossible to convince you of anything once you get it in your head."

She laughed, stepping back. "We're perfectly compatible after all, it makes sense that we'd both be too stubborn to handle each other!"


	7. Hiro's Trance

The snow was still falling as the two faced off against each other, slightly awkward in their layers of winter clothing. Still, despite the slight discomfort, the two were both grinning, Hiro's arms raised and Nemesis standing straight.

"Back when we fought Tsubaki, Nymph gave us a genetic boost to let me use my Trance while inside your body...but considering she was a wrench in Project Genesis' goals according to Nymph, that means there are probably people stronger than her that we'll need to face. Therefore...we need to teach you how to use Trance without my help!"

A sudden change from her giddy personality earlier, but it made sense. She could be gravely serious when she had to be after all...even if her facial expression made it seem like everything she said was a joke.

"And to do that, I have to be able to at least hit you...and since you're made of dark matter, that means it's impossible if I can't use the parts of my genome that you've modified."

She nodded, holding her arms out, and the clothing she wore simply fell away, dropping to the ground and phasing through her body as she allowed herself to dissociate, before she lowered her arms, and Hiro sighed at the sight.

"Really? Did you seriously need to get naked? Honestly, it's a good thing we're in the backyard where nobody is watching…"

She laughed, bending forward...a motion that probably was meant to be sexy, but considering she had the body proportions of Wendy Marvell and Hiro wasn't a lolicon, she just ended up looking silly in the cold.

"Clothes are restrictive, and the particles of my body are so sparse that I doubt they'd have stayed on long anyway, considering that even my school uniform weighs more than I do. Besides, it's not like you care, and I definitely don't, so let's just fight already! Come on and try to hit me!"

That was the only goal, hitting her, and yet it became immediately clear how difficult that would be when Hiro leapt forward, bringing his fist in a punch aimed at her face...and immediately passing right through, carrying him forward through her as he planted his foot in front of him to cut his momentum, turning around to face the girl, who hadn't moved at all from her spot as she turned her head, a grin playing on her face.

"Just punching won't do anything, even Devilukean technology can't make someone capable of physically touching me. Only Trance can touch me, and even then, only certain kinds...Eve's can, and so can yours. Don't bother moving your body at all, just focus on your hair." To demonstrate, several strands of her own hair lifted against gravity, turning in the air like snakes. "Nymph made it so your body could handle my Trance...that doesn't mean you require me to do it."

"Yeah, I know that, but it's kind of hard to use it when I know nothing about how it works! And you and Eve never explain how you do it, so-"

"We don't know how to." she interrupted, turning around to face him. "Eve uses nanobots that fill every cell of her body, and I'm not even a material entity. We were also born capable of using it, and to my knowledge, you're the only person who gained the ability later in life. So this training's something I can't help you with...though I can at least help you with that golden eye thing."

He blinked, holding his hand up to his left eye, the one that usually changed color when Nemesis took over. "Oh yeah, that weird vision I got while we fought Tsubaki...Do you see things like that all the time?"

She nodded, shrugging. "To me, it's perfectly normal. Dark matter beings don't see reality the same as you do...I guess you could say I'm able to see higher dimensions like time. It's...really hard to explain to someone who resides in the 4th dimension and can only see three."

"So basically, you're special even for a Trans." he said, and she laughed, nodding.

"Yep! And I was the only one who survived Project Nemesis too, all the others either couldn't handle the transition from nonliving to organic, or were trapped in human forms and died from complications. I'm the only pure dark matter being to come from the Trans programs."

"You weren't the only one?" he asked, and she laughed, shaking her head.

"Of course not! Do you think perfection like me could come from a first attempt? The first test for the project started in 1990, and I was born in 1998. Before me, there were hundreds of attempts, spread across several research planets...Like I said when we were coming home from the planetarium, I was born in the Svalbard base here on Earth, and escaped to space soon after."

"So it's possible there's others?" he asked, and she laughed, shaking her head and crossing her arms.

"No, it's not. I know it sounds cool to have another of me running around, but it's not going to happen. The conditions I was created under were unique even for the project...there was a specific set of circumstances that can't be replicated even with all of Deviluke's technology. I'm definitely the last and only survivor. Anyway, enough about my past...We're not here to learn about me, we're here to prepare you for the future. We work really well together, but there's always the possibility that I can't Trans-Fuse with you for whatever reason, so you need to be able to handle yourself."

He nodded. "And it's only been a year, so we don't know what longterm effects there may be, especially considering you've been modifying my genes...And we don't know the full extent of what Nymph did to me either since she won't say.'

"Right. Now, try to hit me again...Don't worry about making a Trance blade, your ability is sourced from mine, and I'm unable to produce one, so you shouldn't either. Just focus on making tendrils like mine...they're pretty useful even if you can't cut anything with them."

He nodded, closing his eyes to focus, the girl standing still to wait for him to act.

Hiro knew a little about Trance already from simple observation. It was a body modification technique, and from what he knew of biology, it probably entailed turning on and shutting off different parts of the genome in each cell to change their shapes...it sounded incredibly painful, but for some reason, when Nemesis had used it against Tsubaki, it hadn't hurt him at all. Neither did the thermal vision when he connected to her eye, at least when both his eyes were open so he could see normally from the other eye. That meant there was a way to do it without ripping his body apart, and though he trusted that she could heal him, he certainly did not want to feel something like that happening.

So how exactly to do it? Nemesis' version was too difficult to really measure since she wasn't a solid body, but Eve's was based on technology, not on biology, so she didn't even have to worry about her genetic code...yet he did. His body possessed no nanobots, but it still had cells that he had to worry about, while Nemesis did not.

It was hard to think about. How exactly could he do what she could with the different structure of his own body? He couldn't even visualize what it must be like for them to control it, and they could do it without even really thinking very hard, yet here he was, incapable of even picturing how he could possibly try.

There had to be some way. He couldn't rely on either of them to help, so he'd have to figure it out himself.

He really did feel like the "stupid hero" right now.


	8. Notice to Readers

**This is going to be a pretty big rant, but please stick to the end, it's important.**

 **So it's been a really long time since I updated this, hasn't it? November, I think. If you're here from the beginning, you've probably wondered what happened. If you're here from DDKDC's shoutout, you've probably wondered why he bothered linking you an abandoned story. Well, I have news today about the state of the story and plans for the future.**

 **First things first. This is not abandoned. It was on an indefinite hiatus for a really long time because I was busy with my other story (King of Commoners) and while writing that I realized how poorly laid out this one is. The first and only review since the last chapter pretty much sums up the state of the story. Yeah, Nemoskull, I don't know how you found the story but you were pretty spot on. Hope you don't mind, but to help explain what's going on, I'm going to copy your review word for word and walk through it.**

 **Spoilers to any newcomers seeing this listed on the archive, by the way.**

this is good, but your writing is... aimless. and not in a good way. killing off mea was a cheap shot to advance the plot. and this is a bit too dark to feel like to love ru. mostly i think you need focus. all the parts of a really good story are there, but its not quite right.

 **First, about it being aimless. You're absolutely right. Evil Eye was written at a time when I was just barely getting into a somewhat decent writing style despite my years on the site (seriously, I've kept all my old stories despite how terrible they all are, you can see them if you want to challenge yourself). I'm comparing to KoC again, and I'll probably continue to do so since that's my current standard, but Evil Eye doesn't even have defined arcs for the most part!**

 **Second. Mea. Just...everything about Mea was a mistake. Her death was indeed cheap, but it was also necessary to show Tsubaki's motivation and power. That's not an excuse, it was certainly poorly done, and I'd certainly do it much differently if I had the chance.**

 **Third, about it being too dark. This story is NOT the canon. It didn't do a great job, but it was supposed to give outlook on the lives of the Trans race. Their lives are not happy, nor are they full of ecchi normally. I wasn't able to get far enough to really show it off, but there is a lot more to them than meets the eye, and I had planned it to happen during the following parts.**

 **So, what am I doing talking about this now? Well, I'll say it plain and simple. I'm rebooting the story. Starting from scratch, following the same lines but overhauling everything for my current standards. If I were to continue off what is currently written, then it would only spiral worse, and I just don't want to lower my standards just to fit the legacy story.**

 **Spoiler, so skip to the next paragraph if you haven't actually read the story yet or don't want to know what the following parts are planned to be. This time, I will be combining the Tsubaki Saga with the Project Genesis Saga, as both a storytelling device as well as somewhat copying the canon's decision to have a first season twice as long as the following three. The structure of the story will therefore have the "Evil Eye" series, following Hiro's actions relating to Project Genesis, and then part 2 and 3 being the next saga, and part 4 being the finale. I don't know how much I'll change from then thanks to this initial change, but that's the gist of it.**

 **Okay, spoilers over. Now for the fun bit of explaining how the reboot will be posted. Both Evil Eye and the 5 or so chapters of Project Genesis will be left up for posterity and given an "archive" tag, so if you want to be spoiled then go ahead and read them at your own risk. The reboot will be put up as the new "Evil Eye" and will hit the archive on the day I do mass uploads every year (June 26th).**

 **If you have any questions, then go ahead and shoot me a review or PM. Keep in mind I can't answer guest reviews. Also, go yell at DDKDC to get cracking on Snapped, I want to see it come back like this!**


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